By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
Valemount Council appointed Dean Schneider as the Village Fire Investigator and Fire Inspector during their October 22nd meeting. Schneider has been the Village’s Building Inspector for over a decade and has also been the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George Building Inspector since 2016. Schneider has also been a member of the Valemount Fire Department over the years.
The appointment comes after the Fire Safety Act came into effect on August 1st. The act downloads responsibility for fire preparedness onto local governments, including the obligation to have a Fire Inspector and Fire Investigator by October 28th.
Although the Regional District has jurisdiction over Valemount Fire Rescue, the Village of Valemount is responsible for appointing a Fire Investigator and Fire Inspector. Fire Investigators are responsible for investigating the causes of fires after they have occurred, and Fire Inspectors ensure buildings have appropriate fire safety features.
During the Council meeting, councillors expressed concern that the financial implications of the new roles are currently unknown, and it is unclear how the new roles will impact Schneider’s work as a building inspector.
Councillor Pete Pearson asked if the positions were salaried, or paid on an as-needed basis.
“The Investigator is definitely an as-needed position,” said CAO Anne Yanciw. “I believe all the training for that is offered for free through the Office of the Fire Commissioner. If there is a cost for training, it would be minimal.”
She added that because the Fire Inspector regularly inspects public buildings to ensure they are following appropriate fire safety standards, that position requires a greater time commitment. The Fire Inspector must also follow up to make sure buildings implement the fire safety recommendations they make, which Yanciw believes will be the most time-consuming part of the job.
“This has come at us quite late [in the fiscal year],” Yanciw added. “At this point, I don’t really have any good sense of what the time commitment might be. It’s possibly something like a week per year based on one other community I looked at … but that’s just an estimate.”
Pearson said he is interested in seeing how becoming the Fire Inspector and Fire Investigator will impact Schneider’s current roles as Building Inspector for the Village and the Regional District.
Councillor Hollie Blanchette asked if Schneider could be given the positions on a trial basis to see how it would impact his other roles.
“No. This is downloading legislation onto our organization, so there is no trial,” Torgerson said. “We can rely on administration, and particularly the Finance Department, to keep us updated throughout the budget process.”
In an email to The Goat, Yanciw said the Village is working with Schneider to see if it would be possible for him to complete inspections during the winter, when his role as Building Inspector is less busy.
“If we are able to do that, investigations can be fit in when required as they will not be as significant as the inspector [duties],” Yanciw said. “If we are able to work that out, the financial implications will be little to none.”
The Goat reached out to the Village of McBride to determine who they had appointed as Fire Inspector and Fire Investigator, but they were unable to respond by presstime.
